I'll be there
by Faberrittanainthetardis
Summary: Paige gets sick and Emily takes care of her.


**Title: I'll be there**

**Summary: Paige gets sick and Emily takes care of her. Prompt from ilikmyhgbetter on tumblr. **

**Word count: 2,901**

"Paige, you're going to be late!"

Paige groaned at the yelling coupled with an insistent banging on her door. She turned onto her back and tried to reply only for her voice to come out as a hoarse whisper. She swallowed heavily and winced at the sharp pain that shot through her throat. Moving her hand to her throat in a futile attempt to ease the pain she forced herself to speak up so that her mom could hear her.

"I'm not going, I'm sick!"

There was a beat of silence before the door opened and Paige's mom walked into the room with a concerned expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sick." Paige repeated hoarsely.

Karen stepped forward and placed the back of her hand on her daughter's skin, feeling for a temperature. She frowned at the heat radiating from Paige's skin and pulled her hand back. "You're burning up."

Paige mumbled a response and turned her onto her side, hugging her covers close to her chest. She certainly didn't feel like she was burning up, far from it actually.

"Your father has already left for work so skipping school won't be a problem." Karen stated quietly. "I'll book you a Doctor's appointment for when I finish work. I would stay home but I have an important meeting to prepare for."

"It's okay." Paige mumbled, more than used to not being at the top of her parent's list of priorities. "I just want to sleep anyway."

"Can I get you anything before I leave?" Karen asked, checking her watch to make sure she wasn't running late.

Paige shook her head.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Karen leaned down and kissed the top of Paige's head, the only part of her that was visible underneath the blankets.

Paige mumbled something unintelligible as her mom turned and walked out of the door. She turned onto her other side and wrapped the covers tighter around herself, struggling to get warm. A few minutes passed before she heard the front door open and close as her mom left the house. No more than a minute passed before a wave of nausea hit her. Paige's eyes flew open and she threw the covers back in panic. Her feet quickly found the floor and she ran to the door, throwing it open. As quickly as she could, she made her way to the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. When she got there she practically threw herself to the ground and after removing her hand from her mouth emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. After a few minutes the vomiting slowed to a sickening dry heave and she blindly felt for the toilet paper next to the toilet. She tore some off the roll and wiped her mouth before slumping back breathing heavily. Her throat burned with leftover vomit and as much as she wanted to wash the disgusting taste in her mouth away, her nausea kept her from standing up to brush her teeth. With a sigh Paige scooted back so that she was sitting against the wall. Pulling her knees to her chest, she laid her head against the cool tiles and allowed her eyes to slide shut. She was just dozing off when the doorbell rang downstairs and she jolted awake at the unexpected sound. She was going to ignore it when someone started knocking in a rather loud and frantic manner on the front door. With a groan, Paige reluctantly pushed herself to her feet and using the wall to steady herself slowly made her way out of the bathroom. Thanks to her dizziness it took her a while to make her way downstairs. With every passing second the knocks grew louder and with every knock the throbbing in Paige's head increased tenfold. Finally she managed to get to the door and pull it open by a crack to reveal a beyond panicked looking Emily standing there.

"Paige!" Emily exclaimed in relief, a grin breaking onto her lips at the site of her girlfriend.

"Emily." Paige leaned her weight against the door and placed her free hand in front of her mouth, recalling that she hadn't had time to brush her teeth. "What are you doing here?"

Emily's grin quickly dropped as she took in what she could see of her girlfriend while the door was still being used as a barrier. Paige's eyes were barely open and she seemed to be using the door to keep herself up. "We were supposed to get coffee before school, remember? I got worried when you didn't show up. I tried calling you about ten minutes ago but you didn't pick up."

Paige kicked herself for forgetting about the arrangement they'd made the night before. "Crap, I'm sorry. I totally forgot."

"Were you ignoring me?" Emily asked eyeing the hand Paige was holding in front of her mouth.

Paige shook her head and winced at the pain it caused. "I was in the bathroom. And I haven't had a chance to brush my teeth yet so…"

"Are you sick?" Emily asked, finally catching on.

"Yeah." Paige mumbled, leaning her head against the door. "Sorry Em, I don't really feel up to school today."

"It's okay." Emily said with a small smile. She gently pushed against the door, easily urging Paige back into the house. She stepped inside, closed the door behind her and took in the sight of Paige clad in flannel pyjamas.

"What are you doing?" Paige asked warily painfully aware of her knees trembling beneath her.

"I'm taking care of you." Emily answered simply as she eased her jacket off and hung it up on the coat hook next to the front door.

Paige instantly began to argue. "Emily, I can't ask you to skip school for me."

"You're not asking, I'm telling." Emily informed her. She stepped forward, sliding an arm around Paige's waist. "Now let me help you back to bed before you fall over."

Paige huffed but willingly slid her arm around Emily's shoulders and allowed her to lead her towards the stairs. They were halfway up them when something occurred to her. "Bathroom."

"Are you going to throw up again?" Emily asked, her eyes widening in alarm and her grip on Paige tightening as she prepared to make a quick dash to the bathroom.

Paige shook her head. "I can't talk to you when my breath smells like vomit."

Emily chuckled at the answer but when she reached the top of the stairs she willingly took a detour to get to the bathroom. She walked Paige over to the sink before backing up to let her brush her teeth.

Paige grabbed a toothbrush and gave her teeth a quick vigorous brush before swilling mouthwash. She slowly turned around after spitting it out and using the sink to keep herself up, gave Emily a look. "Em…"

"I'm not going to school." Emily interrupted knowingly. She stepped forward and gripped Paige's arms, gently easing her hands off the sink. "You may as well accept it."

Paige sighed but didn't fight Emily off as she led her back to her room. When they got there Paige gratefully sank back into her bed and huddled under the covers. She hadn't realized how cold she'd been downstairs but snuggled under the covers the change in temperature couldn't be missed.

"Cold?" Emily asked sympathetically as she sank onto the bed next to her girlfriend. Paige merely nodded meekly in response and hugged the covers closer. Without hesitation, Emily kicked her shoes off and clambered over Paige to crawl into the bed behind to her. She wrapped her arm around Paige and tugged her close. A few minutes passed in that position before Paige exhaled heavily and turned over to burrow close to Emily's body in search of warmth.

"You're really burning up." Emily noted in response to Paige's heated forehead pressing against her collarbone.

"I'm freezing." Paige murmured tiredly.

Emily didn't reply and instead hugged Paige closer in an effort to warm her up. They fell into silence and once again Paige was just dozing off when Emily's phone vibrated against her leg, causing her to jolt awake. "What…?"

"Sorry." Emily murmured, reaching down to withdraw her phone from her front pocket.

"Who is it?" Paige asked worriedly. Since finding out about A it seemed that every phone call or text message caused her to worry.

"It's just Hanna." Emily assured her before answering the phone. "Hey Han."

Paige sighed and settled back down in Emily's embrace. She could hear both sides of the conversation thanks to their close proximity and the volume of Hanna's voice.

"Where are you?" Hanna asked loudly. "We've been worried."

"We?" Emily echoed knowingly.

Paige smirked despite her general feeling of yuckiness, already aware of what Hanna's reply would be.

"Mainly Spencer." Hanna admitted reluctantly. "But that's not the point. Where are you?"

"I'm in bed." Emily answered. Paige shivered slightly and Emily scooted closer, hooking her leg over Paige's to keep her close.

"You're still in bed?" Hanna asked sceptically.

"Not _still_ in bed." Emily corrected. "I didn't say I'm in my own bed."

There was a beat of silence on the other end of the phone while Hanna took that information in. "You're skipping school to get it on with your girlfriend? Wait, you're not talking to me while you're having sex are you? I mean I love you and all but _that's _a bit creepy."

Paige chuckled softly into Emily's chest and Emily grinned despite herself.

"How did you know?"

"Eeew Emily!" Hanna exclaimed in shock. There was the sound of a scuffle on the other end of the line followed by Spencer's voice.

"Emily, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Spencer." Emily answered with a roll of her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm with Paige."

"Why?" Spencer asked bluntly.

"Ask Hanna." Emily smirked to herself.

"You're awful." Paige mumbled into Emily's shirt.

"Was that Pa-?" Spencer started to question before she trailer. "Hanna, get off! I'm talking to Em…"

"It's _my _phone." Hanna informed her sharply before she continued to address Emily. "Were you serious?"

Emily couldn't help but laugh at her oblivious friend. "No Hanna. I wasn't serious."

"Oh…well tell Paige I said hi."

Paige drew back from Emily by a fraction to reply. "Hey Hanna."

"Wow, she sounds like crap." Hanna blurted out bluntly.

"Thanks." Paige replied before she resumed her previous position.

"Sorry." Hanna said loudly. "Are you okay Paige?"

Paige waved for Emily to answer for her, apparently too worn out to reply herself.

"She's sick." Emily responded seriously. "I'm staying with her."

"Awww, you guys are adorable." Hanna gushed into the phone much to Emily's amusement. "Hey Emily, I have to go because Spence…Ow, damn it Spencer!" there was a moment of silence before Hanna continued in a slightly breathless voice. "Spencer keeps trying to take my phone! Call me if you need anything!"

Emily chuckled as the phone was promptly hung up.

"Your friends are crazy." Paige smiled as Emily slipped the phone into her back pocket.

"Tell me about it." Emily muttered with a fond roll of her eyes. Her friends were slightly out of the ordinary but she wouldn't want them any other way.

"Spencer still seems suspicious of me." Paige noted, her voice slurring ever so slightly thanks to how tired she was.

"Spencer is suspicious of everyone." Emily said as she comfortingly rubbed Paige's lower back. "It's just the way she is. She's trying to look out for us."

"Good." Paige whispered, shifting closer to Emily. "I'd put up with her glaring and Spencer-ness forever if it kept you safe."

"Spencer-ness?" Emily echoed with a soft laugh. "I think it's time you went to sleep."

Paige mumbled something like an agreement and after a few minutes she did just that.

XXX

Paige awoke a few hours later, alone and disorientated but feeling less worn out than she had before her nap. Emily was no longer in the bed with her and Page momentarily worried that she'd left the house. Her worries were cast aside when Emily walked into the room a moment later, obviously trying to be as quiet as possible. She startled slightly when she saw that Paige was awake.

"Hey, I was just going to wake you."

"What time is it?" Paige asked hoarsely as she sat up in the bed.

"It's almost one." Emily answered, perching on the edge of the bed. "You should eat something."

Paige's stomach knotted in protest and she quickly began to shake her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on." Emily slipped her hand under the covers and fumbled for Paige's hand. As soon as she found it she threaded their fingers together and gave a light squeeze. "It'll make you feel better."

"I'm not sure about that." Paige muttered though she didn't protest when Emily tugged her out of bed. She was surprised to find that she was slightly steadier on her feet than she had been that morning and she was able to walk without Emily practically holding her up. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment at the memory of that morning and she consoled herself with the fact that she hadn't thrown up in front of Emily at least. Emily didn't seem to notice her distraction as they walked hand in hand down the stairs. Paige found herself being led into the kitchen to the table and Emily released her hand to pull a chair out for her.

"Ma'am." She grinned.

Paige chuckled softly at Emily's antics but took a seat and played along. "Why thank you kind sir."

"I'll be right back." Emily laughed, running her hand over Paige's shoulders before she turned to walk away.

Paige sniffled slightly and scooted her chair closer to the table. She watched idly as Emily walked across the kitchen and picked a tray up from the counter.

Emily carefully returned to the table and placed the tray in front of Paige. On it were two cups, two tablets, two slices of toast and a small cupcake. "Lunch is served."

Paige brightened at the site of a familiar looking cake on the tray. "Is that coconut?"

"Yes." Emily grinned, more than pleased with Paige's reaction. "But you have to eat your toast and take your pills first."

"Seriously?" Paige asked, making a face. "My throat hurts."

"Seriously." Emily confirmed as she took a seat next to her girlfriend. "You have to eat something that's at least _sort of_ good for you."

"What if I just eat one?"

"You drive a hard bargain." Emily playfully narrowed her eyes. "Fine. You have yourself a deal."

Paige breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took the pills with a grimace. She picked up a slice of the toast before she pushed the plate towards Emily. "You should eat too."

Emily shot Paige a grateful smile and reached for the plate offered to her.

"You didn't have to go shopping for me you know." Paige said thoughtfully.

"Oh, I didn't. I called Hanna."

Paige froze mid-chew, her expression the picture of alarm. She quickly swallowed before speaking up. "Emily, what kind of pills did I just take?"

"Relax, Spencer was with her." Emily said as if that was supposed to do anything to calm her down.

"Spencer as in Spencer Hastings?" Paige echoed in disbelief. "The same Spencer who practically growls at me whenever I'm in her immediate vicinity?"

"She's not that bad. She likes you really."

Paige gave Emily a look that clearly expressed her disbelief.

"Besides, I picked these out." Emily said rationally. "They're just cold and flu capsules."

Paige relaxed at the reassurance and continued to nibble at her toast, allowing silence to fall between them. Every few seconds she stole glances at Emily trying to work up the courage to say what she wanted to say. Finally when she no longer had any toast to distract her she spoke up. "Thank you for taking care of me today. You really didn't have to."

Emily looked slightly amused by the sudden statement. "I know I didn't have to. But I wanted to. I still want to."

Paige bashfully averted her eyes. "I'm not really used to having someone to take care of me."

Emily momentarily frowned at the thought of Paige not having anyone to look after her when she was ill but she quickly brightened up. "Well now you have me."

Paige smiled, her gaze still fixed on the table. "My mom will be home in a few hours. She said she's going to book a doctor's appointment."

"I'll come with you." Emily volunteered quickly. "If you want."

Paige looked up to see Emily casually drinking from one of the cups that had been on the tray a couple of moments ago. Her eyes however were sparkling and fixed intently on Paige.

"Emily."

"Paige?" Emily smiled back at her.

"I lo…" Paige trailed off uncertainly, unsure as to how Emily would take the declaration. Despite everything Emily was doing Paige was still wary of being rejected at some point. "I'd love for you to come with me."

Emily grinned and stood up with her cup and plate in hand. She stepped over to Paige and leaned over to press a lingering kiss to her forehead. "Then I'll be there."

THE END.


End file.
